Each night one of our kids opens a box pertaining to the night of the 12 days. It has a rhyme pertaining to what we will be doing that night that they have a lot of fun deciphering what it will be. Below I provided the rhyme with an explanation of what we did for that night.
In the box, it read: On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...A map, a phone, and a relative decree.
We loved watching Relative Race as a family so we decided to do something of a relative race ourselves. We narrowed down 5 ancestors that we found on our tree using familysearch.org.
The kids each had a job to do.K found out when they were born and some facts about that year. Z found where they were born. A found pictures of the area. E1 placed the star on the map and E2 searched for a picture of them or the closest relative picture.
Once we reviewed all their findings we brought out the gift of spit tubes. LOL. We bought each one of them DNA tests. (We bought these at a discount during black Friday events on Ancestry.com) The kids were so excited to take this test and find out more about their heritage.
With these turtle doves you need some gloves. A pot or two, but not of stew. Do it right and earn renown, or do it wrong and, "Shut it Down!"
Who wouldn't love a cooking battle? We split up into teams and each of us had a recipe for pasta carbonara from 3 different chefs, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, and the O.G. Antonio Carluccio.
We split the kids into three groups and gave them the recipes. Afterward, we put all the bowls in the center and each of us tried and voted on the ones we thought were the best. Here are the links in case you would like to try them yourself.
Three French Hens fly from a far. If you get close you may get a par. Look out and see a field, you think you have arrived- sometimes you can still get there without a car, but call it a drive.
Today we went to Top Golf. This is something we have never tried! I would say that we had fun, but none of us are even close to being good at golfing.
We went on a Tuesday so to get the half price game play. We were super boring and only ordered water and a plate to share. But really loved the fun times playing angry birds and other competition games.
A yearly favorite is getting a manicure or pedicure. Even the men love this day of pampering. This year it made sense to fall on the 4th day. We look like quite the crowd sitting here in our massage chairs. Can't deny looking and feeling good!
Matinee day: Went with some family friends to see the newest release of Spiderman: No Way Home.
Six geese a-laying is nothing compared to old year slaying. Ring in a new year with hot food and root beer. How we cook not what is the key to making this night not butt. 2021 ends the coucou.
We loved having our friends spend New Year's Eve with us! Our surprise was fondue for everyone. We had cheese and chocolate fondue and board games. We finished off the night with English crackers that had pitched whistles that played a nice little tune!
Seven swans a-swimming,
but today's way too cold.
I know what you're thinking but don't be afraid-
tonight we will play in a .05 cent ______
We had so much fun last year in SLC playing at the nickel arcade. We decided to see if one was close to home this year - and there was. We went to Nickel Mania and spent lots of nickels! Lots of games were chance based, but we definitely liked the risk as well as the games of the competition.
8 maids a milking but what is in that milk? Take a drink and tell who you are and how you think...
Listen in stereo like a movie in Dolby, not a test for school, but a test called "___________"
This was the most unique night. For Valentine's Day a few years ago, my husband and I gifted each other some personality, conginitive awareness assessments. One of them was an assessment called Kolbe. My dear friend, who is an expert in Kolbe, had my whole family take individual tests and then brought us together to talk about how we all work together as a team and as individuals. I loved learning about all of our childrens strengths and see them interact with the knowledge brought them each such confidence and awareness to their unique talents and gifts.
9 ladies dancing in a shaky hall
solve a mystery quickly before another falls
We can work together and find the missing pieces
only tonight the reward comes before the knight acts as ancient police-s
This was a board game night. We played Chronicles of Crimes and some other new games we got for Christmas. Lots of fun snacks aided in our adventures of course.
10 lords that leap, but why do they jump?
Because the water is straight ahead or the big dog will bite their rump.
Pack your gear.
We took everyone to Great Wolf Lodge. Husband and I have never been there before but half of our kids have experienced it before. Before we left we had a nacho bar all over our table- a fun way to eat nachos- and easy clean up! We decided, even though our kids were older, we would all enjoy some fun magic wand time the evening we arrived. The next morning we had a blast in all the indoor water slides and pools. A fun place to go in the cold!
Brunch with the family at a place highly rated next to Great Wolf Lodge. Played some checkers on the table while we waited for our yummy food. Brunch is not something we ever eat out for-so this was a special treat.
Kids are back in school so we kept our last night easy with a hot chocolate bar before bed. Til next year!